Syrian conflict: No agreement between Washington and Moscow for ceasefire
Stalemate in the negotiations between the two superpowers. People will continue to fight and die on the ground. Positions on the future of Syrian President Assad and the rebel militias remain distant. The next round of talks scheduled for September 18 at the UN General Assembly on.
Damascus (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Negotiations between the US and Russia for a ceasefire in Syria, where people continue to fight and die, have once again ended in stalemate. Positions remain far apart and opposing interests between the two sides, with mutual exchanges of accusations for the failure of negotiations.
The new - useless - round of talks between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov took place this morning on the sidelines of the G-20 in Hangzhou, China.
Yesterday Washington had pointed the finger at Moscow, blaming the other party of having "backed off" on some points of the negotiations, making it, in fact, impossible to reach an agreement on cooperation between the two great powers.
The main bone of contention between the US and Russia, both involved in a military air campaign against jihadist groups in Syria, is the fate of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Meanwhile, the air force of the Damascus government continues to bomb opposition targets - called "moderate" by the US and the West, even if internally there are Islamic extremist groups - with Russian support. Even this last point is a source of dispute between the White House and the Kremlin.
US President Barack Obama and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are to meet in the day today; However, diplomatic sources said it will be "very difficult" that the two sides can reach an agreement.
Moreover, the White House wants to avoid President Obama signing an agreement that will not be respected by the warring parties. In the past truces were reached at the level of international diplomacy but failed on the ground.
From the outset, American diplomacy has approached the negotiations with Russia "with scepticism", although "we wanted to give it a try." In addition, the United States does not want to provide international legitimacy to Putin for his support for Assad.
For its part, Russia insists that it is not possible to reach an agreement until the pro-Islamic extremist opposition guerrillas, backed by Washington and other allies in the Middle East (Saudi laws, Qatar and Turkey in particular), should not be equalled to militia of al Qaeda.
The new round of talks between the US and Russia is scheduled - still unofficially - for September 18 in New York, on the margins of the UN General Assembly.
The Syrian conflict, which broke out in March 2011 as a civil uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, has caused at least 289 thousand deaths and originated an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, with millions of refugees.
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20/03/2018 09:42
